[April 08, 2014]NORMAL
ó A football team that cannot score points consistently is one
that will not win many games. That was the theme of Illinois Stateís
spring practice Saturday at Hancock Stadium, as the Redbirds spent the
last 45 minutes of their workout on scoring points in the red zone.

Early on, it looked like the offense would have a leg up on the day
with its performance in the blitz session. Senior cornerback Mike
Banks picked off a Blake Winkler pass intended for Lechein Neblett
on the second play of the drill, but the offense would respond with
two quick touchdowns on long runs. Marshaun Coprich took advantage
of an edge blitz, took the ball off tackle and rushed 70 yards for a
touchdown. Two plays later, Jamal Towns did the same.

The
quarterbacks also found their rhythm in the 7-on-7 drill, with
Winkler and Adam Pittser each completing 7 of 10 attempts. Trevor
Rea completed 5 of 8 passes, with a pair of completions to Kyle
Harbour but with an interception to Kalium Ewing. Cameron Meredith
led all receivers with four receptions, followed by Scott Kuehn and
Jon-Marc Anderson with three each and two from Neblett.

The red zone work followed, with the offense starting from the
24-yard line. The first unit to take the field picked up a first
down on the first play on a run by Winkler, but the defense
stiffened and forced Nick Aussieker to boot a 25-yard field goal
four plays later. The second-team unit also had to settle for a
field goal attempt, but a 37-yard effort by Sean Slattery just
missed wide right. Aussieker connected again, this time from 32
yards, to round out the third drive and the first session.

Session two began at the 17-yard line, and the offense needed
just one play to score, as Winker found Neblett in the end zone for
the quick touchdown. The second-team unit went three-and-out, but
Aussiekerís 37-yard field goal put points on the board. The
third-team unit also scored, thanks to a 32-yard field goal from
Slattery.

The ball then moved to the 12-yard line for the final session in
the red zone. The first-team unit went to the ground on the first
two plays, with James Graham picking up 2 yards on the first play
and losing ground on a Dalton Keane tackle for loss on second down.
An 11-yard completion from Winkler to Anderson put the ball on the
1-yard line and picked up a first down, and Collin Keoshian did
exactly what he did last year and barreled in for the score to cap
off practice.

The team had the rest of the weekend off but will return to
practice Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Hancock Stadium.